Tried a MSI GTX 1070 Aero and it blew up my pcie riser within 1 second. - Didn't like the quality either, compared to FE cards. So i returned it within 2 hours after purchase. - No other card that i tested ever blew up my risers! (and that's a few ... 4x ZOTAC GTX 980, 1x TITAN X, 1x ZOTAC GTX 1080, 1x PNY GTX 1080 and another 7 different AMD cards).
The FE fan style allows you to put GPUs directly side-by-side - not possible with axial-fan-style cards. Also compatibility seems better for FE cards. I had to learn it the hard way (see above), i regretted trying the non-ref card (even if it had an radial fan) and went back to FE and now i'm happy again.
About temps: the final GPU temperature depends very much on the cooling system of your case, room ambience temp, even the position and height of the box inside your room (room warms up especially on the roof, stays cooler on the floor. i've once measured 3°C difference in 1,20m height). I can have +/- 20 degrees celsius just by changing the cooling of my case, e.g. no fans => 80+°C gpu temp ..... 3000 rpm Fans => 70-75°C gpu temp ..... 4000 rpm fans => 60-67° GPU temp (overclocked!).
Cooling has to be seen as an "overall concept" (including the room!) so there's much more than just gpu fan-style. Because of this, the reports about certain temperatures and fan-styles are varying so much. Be prepared to try several types of fans for your case. Took me like 7 attempts to get fans that are good enough. ;-)
My vote for Founders Edition.
The FE fan style allows you to put GPUs directly side-by-side - not possible with axial-fan-style cards. Also compatibility seems better for FE cards. I had to learn it the hard way (see above), i regretted trying the non-ref card (even if it had an radial fan) and went back to FE and now i'm happy again.
About temps: the final GPU temperature depends very much on the cooling system of your case, room ambience temp, even the position and height of the box inside your room (room warms up especially on the roof, stays cooler on the floor. i've once measured 3°C difference in 1,20m height). I can have +/- 20 degrees celsius just by changing the cooling of my case, e.g. no fans => 80+°C gpu temp ..... 3000 rpm Fans => 70-75°C gpu temp ..... 4000 rpm fans => 60-67° GPU temp (overclocked!).
Cooling has to be seen as an "overall concept" (including the room!) so there's much more than just gpu fan-style. Because of this, the reports about certain temperatures and fan-styles are varying so much. Be prepared to try several types of fans for your case. Took me like 7 attempts to get fans that are good enough. ;-)
My vote for Founders Edition.